Al-Kisa’i said: Since it precedes the verb, it is acceptable, as in His saying: “It is dreams that you interpret” (Joseph 12:43). Qutrub said: What is meant is: they fear their Lord. It was also said that the meaning is: they are in awe. And it was said: they stand in awe of their Lord.

“And Moses chose from his people seventy men for Our appointed meeting. Then, when the trembling seized them, he said, ‘My Lord, had You willed, You could have destroyed them before this, and me as well. Would You destroy us for what the foolish among us have done? This is only Your trial, by which You allow whom You will to go astray and guide whom You will. You are our Protector, so forgive us and have mercy upon us; for You are the best of those who forgive.’ (155)”

His saying, exalted is He, “And Moses chose from his people”—that is, from among his people; the preposition has been omitted. “Seventy men for Our appointed meeting”: this indicates that not all of them had worshipped the calf. Al-Suddi said: Allah Most High commanded Moses to come to Him with some of the Children of Israel, to apologize to Him for their worship of the calf. So Moses chose seventy men from among his people. When they came to that place, they said, “We will never believe you until we see Allah plainly,” so the thunderbolt seized them and they died (al-Baqarah 2:55).

Ibn Ishaq said: He chose them so that they might repent to Allah for what they had done and ask forgiveness on behalf of those of their people whom they had left behind. This indicates that all of them had worshipped the calf.

Qatadah, Ibn Jurayj, and Muhammad ibn Ka‘b said: “The trembling seized them” because they had not separated themselves from their people when they worshipped the calf, nor had they enjoined them to do what is right or forbidden them from what is wrong.

Ibn ‘Abbas said: The seventy who said, “We will never believe you until we see Allah plainly,” and whom the thunderbolt seized, were before the seventy whom the trembling seized. Allah commanded Moses to choose seventy men from among his people. He chose them and went out with them to supplicate to their Lord. Among their supplications was that they said: “O Allah, grant us what You have granted no one before us, and grant to no one after us.” Allah disliked this supplication of theirs, so the trembling seized them.

Wahb said: The trembling was not a sound. Rather, when the people saw that awe-inspiring sight, they were overtaken by trembling; they became distressed and shook until their joints nearly came apart. When Moses saw this, he felt compassion for them and feared that they would die. Their loss weighed heavily upon him, for they were his aides in goodness, attentive and obedient. At that point, he supplicated, wept, and earnestly appealed to his Lord. So Allah removed that trembling from them; they became reassured and heard the speech of their Lord. This is indicated by His saying: “He said”—meaning Moses—“My Lord, had You willed, You could have destroyed them before this”—that is, before the worship of the calf—“and me as well”—for killing the Egyptian. “Would You destroy us for what the foolish among us have done?”